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If I'd Said Her Lips (Were Anything at All) by Seth Elkins

if i said that her lips
were anything i'd imagined
i'd be lying.

upon further discussion,
a cavity forms
in the space above us;

it is the calling
of arms, and the
drowning of legs;
the stitching
of hands, and the
crossing of hearts.

this time -i hope-
this time...

dilate

her hips
sweep-sweep to either side
in perpetual figure eights,
and "collapse"
is not an
"appropriate"
adjective.

in withdrawing flesh
from flesh -however
boldly stained- i am caught
again.

this time,
i'll wash the sinned
of that last time,
where we spoke
the most, about
sharing a space in the gallows.


​

Seth Elkins lives in Brooklyn, New York. He is 26 years old, and already older than he had anticipated.
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